Counselors, social workers, and educators who work with the Hmong people must be aware of, and understand, the traumatic experiences of Hmong prior to their arrival in the United States. Many of the Hmong people were abused by the communists, spent many years in the Laotian jungle, and suffered physically and psychologically in their journey to Thailand and in the Thai refugee camps before seeking freedom and democracy in America. A more detailed account of these difficult times follows.

The United States and North Vietnam signed an agreement in Paris in 1973 to withdraw their military forces from Cambodia, Laos, and South Vietnam (Yang, 1993). In 1974, the Pathet Lao (the Lao communist government) prepared an 18-point policy called the Program for Achieving Peace, Independence, Neutrality, Democracy, Unification, and Prosperity of the Kingdom of Lao to gain citizens’ support, so they could take over Laos (Hamilton-Merritt, 1993). When the Pathet Lao took over the country in 1975, they violated this 18-point policy and began a bloody campaign against the Hmong in retribution for helping the Americans during the Secret War in Laos (Bliatout, Downing, Lewis, & Yang, 1988).

In May 1975, the CIA evacuated General Vang Pao (the Hmong leader), his top military leaders, and their families to Thailand. Many of the lower ranking military leaders, soldiers, educators, and wealthy families were not evacuated with the General. Fearing persecution, they traveled to Vientiane, the capital of Laos which is near the Thai border. When they arrived in Vientiane, they secretly contacted and bribed some Laotian civilians or policemen to help them cross the Mekong River on the border of Laos and Thailand into Thailand (Hamilton-Merritt, 1993; Lee, 1991). In their journey, according to the author’s personal observation, they left many of their cousins, relatives, and friends behind. They said goodbye with tears, knowing that they might never seen each other again. Those who were uneducated and poor remained in Laos. Shortly after General Vang Pao left the country, the communists started to arrest thousands of men and sent them to re-education camps, from which most never returned, nor were they ever seen again. The Hmong had no choice but to organize a resistance force to defend themselves and their villages by using the rifles that their American allies had left behind.

In the author’s personal observation, the Hmong were able to defend their villages and fields from 1975 to 1976. The communists organized a massive troop movement against the Hmong in 1977, and they were driven from their homes. Many of them, including their wives and children, fled and hid in the jungle. The communists attacked the villages, burned the houses, destroyed the crops, and killed the livestock. Many communist soldiers raped the Hmong women and killed the children who surrendered because they could not run away. For example, according to P. Xiong (personal communication, July 6, 1995), one of the Hmong who resisted, in December 1978, he saw the communists arrest 16 Hmong women and children in the jungle. They tied these people together and opened fire, killing them all.

In 1977 and 1978, the Pathet Lao troops heavily shelled the Hmong everywhere in the jungle using artillery (85s, 105s, 155s, and 130s) that slammed into the jungle, ripping up trees, knocking down their protection and exposing the Hmong to the communist soldiers (Hamilton-Merritt, 1993). The Pathet Lao pilots flew abandoned U.S. spotter planes to attack the Hmong with conventional weapons and with poison bombs, darts, and nails. According to Hamilton-Merritt (1993), the Pathet Lao also used these planes for chemical warfare, spraying the so-called “red” and “yellow” rain on them. Those who were affected by the poison bombs and chemical warfare suffered nose and mouth bleeding, nausea and severe stomach cramps followed by diarrhea.

The Hmong had no food supplies in the jungle. They had to eat whatever was available to survive, such as leaves, bugs, lizards, mice, buds, bark, bamboo shoots, wild potatos, and many other things (Hamilton-Merritt, 1993). Toward the end of 1978, the Hmong ran out of things to eat because they had stripped bare the land and the foliage. Many people, especially children and elders, were dying from starvation, diseases, and chemical warfare. About 50,000 Hmong people were killed between 1975 and 1978 (Quincy, 1988). While others remained and continued to fight, the survivors made their journey to Thailand. The journey required from 15 days to a month of walking.

In their jungle paths to Thailand, many families had to abandon their weak and dying family members and relatives who could not walk. Hamilton-Merritt (1993) wrote that one crying child could alert the enemy and cause the deaths of all; therefore, when crossing a road or nearing an enemy village, those who had opium mixed small quantities of it with water and gave it to all children to put them to sleep. Those who had no opium placed their hands over the children’s mouths when they cried, so the enemy could not hear. Many children died in this way because the parents gave the children too much opium or covered their mouths too long. If a child died, parents dug a hole, piled dirt on top of the child, and walked on.

The Pathet Lao tried to stop the Hmong from fleeing the country by killing them in ambushes, mining their paths, and sending captives back for punishment (Bliatout, Downing, Lewis, & Yang, 1988). Many did not survive the trek because they were shot by the communist soldiers, stepped on land mines and were killed, died of starvation, or drowned when they tried to cross the Mekong River. One group of about 8,000 people began their journey, but only 2,500 arrived in Thailand (Quincy, 1988). When the Hmong reached Thailand, many were robbed by the Thai patrol soldiers or civilians before they got into the refugee camps. Some were returned to Laos by the Thai patrol officers, especially those who had nothing for the officers to steal.

Those families who could not abandon their weak and dying family members and relatives had no choice but to stay in Laos and care for them and surrender to the communists. According to Hamilton-Merritt (1993), they became prisoners and were poisoned, starved, maimed, tortured, and raped by the communist soldiers. Those who managed to escape again returned to the jungle to join resistance groups that continue to fight to this day.

Hmong lives changed dramatically after their American allies abandoned them in 1975. They lost their homeland, and many of them were killed or sent to re-education camps. Many of the resisters surrendered to the Pathet Lao, while others remained in the jungle and continued to fight for freedom. Others fled to Thailand to seek freedom in Argentina, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the United States and other countries. They lost many of their family members, cousins, relatives, and friends and also left many behind. The Hmong people experienced tremendous hardships in their search for freedom and democracy.